15 month old sudden nursing strike

My 15-month-old son is now on his second day of refusing to nurse. We have a very regular schedule that has gone smoothly and uninterrupted for most of his life. But starting yesterday, he will bite my nipple, point at it, and shake his head no. I pumped last night and this morning and he drank it all out of a cup. I'd rather not get into that habit, though, because I've never produced much with pumping (no letdown, little is expressed -- IDK, my body just doesn't want to respond to a pump). Any advice or suggestions? He has 8 teeth and hasn't done this before, but could it be teething? It is such a sudden development and my breasts feel too full even after trying to pump. Thanks for your help!

Re: 15 month old sudden nursing strike

Hi and welcome. Nursing strikes are common at this age. I am going to link the best article I know about getting the reluctant to nurse baby back to the breast. You may have to try many things, and many of the same things many times. But as long as you recognize this as a strike and not weaning, in other words if you keep trying to get baby back to the breast, you are likely to be able to nurse your baby again.

While baby is not nursing it will be important to pump often enough to maintain normal production levels. Add hand expression to your routine if needed, it may help. Even if you are not producing well for the pump, still pump or at least hand express. It is not necessarily important that you then give what you pump to your child...if they are eating pretty well and gaining normally it may not be, basically it is up to you if you do that or save the milk. In the article you will see ways to use expressed milk to get baby back to the breast. http://kellymom.com/ages/newborn/nb-...ack-to-breast/

I am not sure what you mean when you say you have a very regular schedule- is when to nurse mostly baby's choice or yours? I would suggest think about relaxing or eliminating any nursing 'routines' or schedules as you try to get baby back to the breast and instead, offer frequently. Scheduling nursing sessions is a common weaning technique, so having a schedule could increase the likelihood baby actually will wean earlier.